1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to document scanning and more particularly to a system and method for obtaining an electronic document at a mobile computing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image scanners are commonly used to optically scan physical documents. An electronic document representing the scanned physical document is generated and may be sent to a destination. For example, the electronic document may be sent to an email address as an attachment to an email or to a network location, such as a folder of a computer. In some instances, users may desire to obtain a document in electronic form on their mobile computing device. However, conventional methods for accomplishing this are unsatisfactory.
One conventional method of obtaining an electronic document at a mobile computing device is via email. A user may indicate an email address as the destination for an electronic document by, for example, manually inputting the email address or by selecting the email address from a list of destinations. Once the physical document is scanned, the electronic document representing the scanned physical document is sent to an email server. Using their mobile computing device, the user then accesses their email account in order to transfer the electronic document from the email server to their mobile computing device.
Another conventional method of obtaining an electronic document at a mobile computing device is via a network storage location. A user may indicate a folder of a computer as the destination for an electronic document. Once the physical document is scanned, the electronic document representing the scanned physical document is sent to the folder. The user must then access the folder and transfer the electronic document from the folder to their mobile computing device.
These conventional methods require a user to manually transfer an electronic document from a destination to a mobile computing device. Furthermore, the user must have information about the destination in order to send the electronic document to and/or access the electronic document at the destination. These steps and requirements can diminish the efficiency and ease with which a user obtains an electronic document at their mobile computing device.